


We're Lab Partners, Right?

by lovelysnoopy



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Catradora and Glimbow are background, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/F, F/M, Lab Partners, Light Angst, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-21
Updated: 2020-07-21
Packaged: 2021-03-05 02:15:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,742
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25426771
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lovelysnoopy/pseuds/lovelysnoopy
Summary: The war is over. Etheria is healing. But Hordak's crimes cannot be ignored. The princesses gather to decide on his punishment, and when they suggest exiling him to Beast Island, Entrapta intervenes on his behalf. She convinces them to let her go with him with the goal of studying the First One's tech there. After all, they're lab partners, right?
Relationships: Adora/Catra (She-Ra), Bow/Glimmer (She-Ra), Entrapta/Hordak (She-Ra)
Comments: 5
Kudos: 53





	We're Lab Partners, Right?

“Thank you for coming, everyone.” Queen Glimmer stood at what was once the war table, now just a table. It was briefly dubbed ‘the party table’ during the celebrations after their victory, but only Swift Wind continued to call it that. Now, rather than holograms of the battle front and a map littered with Horde emblems, the table was barren. She glanced around the room at every face, the faces of those who fought beside her, the faces of her friends. She smiled, but when all the attentive gazes turned to her, her expression turned serious. 

“As you all know, even though the war is over, we still need to pick up the pieces and help heal Etheria.” She paused, glancing down at Bow, who was seated next to her. He gave her a thumbs-up under the table, and she gave him a small smile. “We have been making amazing progress, but there’s still one more thing.” She took a deep breath.

“Hordak.”

Everyone looked at each other uncomfortably. Mermista crossed her arms and scowled, Catra’s tail flicked back and forth slowly, and Entrapta’s gaze fell, her hair partially obscuring her face. Before Glimmer could speak again, Netossa spoke up. 

“Well, we can’t just let him go. He has to pay for what he did.”

The room resounded with murmurs of agreement. 

“Then what should we do?” Bow asked. “We can’t just keep him in the spare room—”

 _“—Prison!”_ Glimmer corrected in a hushed voice.

“Uh, I mean prison, forever. We have to do something.”

“Maybe,” Perfuma said excitedly, “I can give him daily meditation sessions to work through his anger and—”

“Meditation sessions?” Mermista interjected. “Are you forgetting who this _is?_ He took over almost all of Etheria, he took over my _home._ He poisoned yours. He needs a real punishment.” Her tone was understandably bitter, and Perfuma shied away into Scorpia’s claws.

Not getting any real answers, Glimmer turned to Adora expectantly. Adora held her gaze for a moment, then let out a sigh. 

“Mermista’s right, he needs a proper punishment. He’s done too much harm to Etheria.” She turned to look at Catra beside her, who looked away in shame. Adora squeezed her hand reassuringly, and she gave her a small smile in return. 

“We should send him to Beast Island.” 

Everyone turned to Mermista, shocked.

“Beast Island?” Perfuma squeaked, burrowing deeper into Scorpia’s embrace, who looked equally horrified. 

“What?” Mermista defended herself. “It’s not like he thought twice about sending King Micah there.”

At the mention of Micah, Adora looked at Glimmer, whose face was hard as stone. Finally, the Queen spoke.

“You’re right, Mermista. He sent my father there, and who knows how many others. He—”

“Wait!”

The room resounded with the shrill and panicked voice of Entrapta. She had finally come out from behind her hair, unable to stay silent any longer. 

“Hordak isn’t all bad. He’s done some good things.”

“Yeah, says the princess who joined the Horde.” Mermista shot back.

Entrapta was quiet for a moment, a sad look taking over her features.

“He saved me.”

No one knew what to say.

“He _saved_ me!” Entrapta’s voice began to rise. “Prime told him to kill me and he wouldn’t. He tried to kill Prime instead!”

Spinnerella let out a gasp. Everyone looked to each other, unsure how to take the new information. Entrapta turned to Adora and Glimmer, whose eyes were wide. They looked to each other and seemed to make a silent agreement before Glimmer responded, “Hordak still needs to pay for his crimes.” 

Scrambling for something, one of Entrapta’s hair tendrils pulled a device out of her pocket. She began hitting buttons before thrusting the device in Glimmer’s face.

“He’s also useful! My research has improved by 200% ever since I started working with Hordak,” Her other hair tendril pulled out another device that she also shoved into Glimmer’s face. “I’ve learned more about First One’s tech than EVER before with him! He could help me unlock the mysteries of the tech! Think of what we could DO with it! We NEED Hordak!”

Entrapta’s voice echoed through the room, the only other sound being the quiet beeping from her devices. Glimmer squinted at the screen, pretending to understand the data. She got the gist of it, but all the other numbers and graphs flew over her head. Eventually she sighed, pushing the devices away.

“I guess you have a point.”

“So now what?” Mermista asked. “We’re just going to let him be her lab partner?”

“No,” Adora spoke up. “He still needs to—”

“Let me go with him!”

Entrapta’s interruption was met with faces of confusion and horror.

“You... _want_ to go to Beast Island? Didn’t you just escape?” Netossa asked incredulously. 

“Of course! I left Gertrude there!” At everyone’s silence, she elaborated, “My robot.” Small ‘oooh’s were murmured, and she continued, “That island is FILLED with First One’s tech that holds the answers to EVERYTHING! That’s where I learned about the Heart of Etheria! The amount of tech there that has been left untouched for who knows how long could change everything. Think of all the possibilities!” Entrapta let out a laugh, the mere thought of the island filling her with glee. Noticing the looks she was getting, she composed herself slightly. She turned back to Adora and Glimmer, a look of pleading in her eyes.

“Let me and Hordak go to Beast Island to experiment with the tech.”

Glimmer and Adora looked at each other nervously.

“Entrapta…” Adora began, her eyebrows furrowing. “When we were there you were almost consumed by the island. It would have taken you like it took the others. We can’t risk losing you again.”

Entrapta felt a tug at her heart at Adora’s words, hearing how much her friends cared for her. Friends… but Hordak was also her friend.

“Please.” Entrapta’s voice was small, quiet. The very opposite of her. She was loud and took up space, but she seemed so tiny now, her hair drooping to the floor. “It’s okay. I won’t be alone. I can do it.”

Adora and Entrapta locked eyes. They stared at each other for a few moments, and something in Adora’s expression shifted. She looked up at Glimmer.

“I think we should do it.”

Everyone looked to each other, but no one objected. Even Mermista seemed placated by this plan.

“Then it’s settled.” Glimmer announced. “Hordak will go to Beast Island under the supervision of Entrapta to collect and experiment with the First One’s tech.”

Agreements went around the table, and Entrapta’s eyes sparkled with happiness. She turned to Adora, whispering a “Thank you.” Adora smiled back.

This prison was… different. It had cushions, for one. And was covered in sparkly crystals. He was told it was a prison, but he had his doubts. Maybe princess prisons were just like this. In their defense, he wasn’t allowed to use the cushions, made to sit on the floor within a trapping spell the Queen cast on him. Maybe the cushions and crystals were a way to taunt the prisoner. Or maybe he was giving them too much credit.

The door opened, and he looked up, expecting said Queen, or perhaps She-Ra. Instead—

“Hordak!”

Entrapta ran in, arms wide, hair trailing behind her. She jumped on Hordak, who fell back as she landed on his stomach. 

“Good news! I saved you!”

“...What?” Hordak looked up at her, sitting on his stomach and smiling above him, her head blocking the light and illuminating her silhouette. He opened his mouth to say more, but words evaded him.

“They’re sending you to Beast Island, with me!” 

The first thought that ran through his head was ‘how is Beast Island saving me’, quickly followed by—

“Why are they sending _you_ to that death trap? You don’t deserve that!” The anger in his voice was evident, but that didn’t wipe the smile off her face.

“I volunteered! Beast Island is FILLED with First One’s tech that has been abandoned for YEARS! IT’S A PARADISE!” She shouted gleefully, jumping slightly on Hordak’s stomach, making him lose his breath. “Well,” she lifted her hand to her chin and thought deeply. “It’s a paradise to _me,_ but I knew that if you went alone it would be… bad.” Her expression turned melancholy for a moment, before perking up again. “But! I’ve been wanting to go back anyway! I left my robot Gertrude there and I promised her I’d come back for her. Plus, think of all the things we could do with that tech!”

Hordak was used to Entrapta’s excited ramblings, and truthfully he found comfort in it. But Beast Island… he couldn’t send her back there. He couldn’t let her be punished because of him, no matter how much she says it’s okay. 

“Entrapta, I can’t let you do this. This is my punishment, and mine alone.” 

Entrapta’s gaze grew soft, and she smiled. 

“But Hordak, this isn’t a punishment for me. I want to go. You’re my lab partner, remember? And we have so many experiments to do together.” 

_Together._

Eventually, he nodded. Entrapta burst into excited laughter, jumping off him and bounding back towards the door. 

“I gotta start packing, we’ll need all the equipment we can carry!” She stopped in the doorway, turning around and squealing, “Ooooh, this is gonna be so FUN!” before running off, the closing door barely missing her hair flying behind her. 

Hordak laid on the floor, staring above him at where Entrapta’s head had blocked the light. It shone directly in his eyes now, but he didn’t flinch away. His mind was racing. She was willingly being exiled so they could experiment… _together._ No one had ever done that before. No one had ever stayed by his side, at least not like this. They only stayed because they feared what he would do to them if they left, and for good reason. Reaching into his pocket, he took out the crystal Entrapta had embedded inside his previous suit. She didn’t fear him, and yet she was still here. She was his friend and she cared. He grasped the crystal hard enough to make dents in his skin, unsure how to deal with the emotions. In the Fright Zone it was different, he was still the leader of an empire. He still had power. Now he had none, and she still hadn’t left him. Even after all he’s done. 

Hordak smiled. 

**Author's Note:**

> I haven't posted a fic in so long, and I'm glad to break that streak with my first She-Ra fic! I haven't written in a long time so it may take me a bit to get back into the swing of it. I also rushed this a little bit, so I hope this first chapter isn't as rough as I feel like it is. I got the Beast Island idea from a tumblr post, but I can't find it anymore.  
> Also, I named Entrapta's Beast Island robot Gertrude. She didn't have a name and I thought Gertrude suited her.  
> I hope you liked it! I'll try and update soon.  
> (Also I haven't planned out this fic like I usually do so I'll probably add more tags and such later, I might change the rating if needed but it's not likely)


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